Press Release : AFRICAN REFUGEE DAY

While the International Community is commemorating the African Refugee day, Africa hold the sinister world record of populations swept out from their own lands due to armed conflict that have blooded the continent in the last years, with nearly 7 millions of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Today, we note a neat regress in the protection of refugees in Africa. More and more, the right to asylum is being eroded because of political instabilities and economic troubles that affect the countries of asylum.

Consequently, refugees conditions of survival are deteriorating in Africa and particularly in West African countries.
The west African NGOs for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons deplores this situation which is the result of many combined factors such as the refusal from states to comply with their engagements with regard to the Geneva Convention of 1951 relating to refugees that of OAU of 1967 and the related protocol and the African Charter for Human and People Rights, namely in its article 12.

Another factor, not less important derives from the failure of HCR in its mission generated by the reduction of its operational budget with, as consequence the retreat of HCR from many states of the sub region and parting, the abandon of refugee to themselves.

Furthermore the various scandals that shake HCR: corrupt practices, sexual abuses etc. have ended to undermine its credibility.

At this juncture, the West African NGO for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Network recommend to
1- The African States

- to respect scrupulously their engagements and take appropriate measures to re-inforce the security of refugees on their soil.
- To promote the charges and responsibility sharing between African States

2- To HCR

- to make the necessary corrections permitting the reinforcement of its means and the recruitment of a qualified and personnel of good morality.
- To adapt to the new context in which armed conflicts are taking place

3- To NGOs
- to increase their vigilance in their role of sensibilisation and peace promotion IDP and refugee rights monitoring and assistance to victims
4- To the United Nations

- to commit itself more in the policies of prevention and resolution of armed conflicts which are the basis of population movements in Africa
- to multiply its efforts by condemning perpetrators of crimes on civilians.

WARIPNET appreciates the sustained efforts of HCR, NGOs and state parties to ECOWAS in the process of return to peace, the repatriation of thousands of sierra leonese and Liberians refugees from Guinea this year, and their re-settlement.

Last, WARIPNET reiterates its involvement to the struggles for refugees to enjoy their civil political , social, economic and cultural rights.

WARIPNET
The Secretariat

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